Conroe ISD is considering creating a new cell phone policy for students after a recent report from the U.S. surgeon general outlined the negative effect social media has on children.
Bryce Speer, chairman of the district’s Student Health Advisory Council spoke to trustees during an Aug. 1 board meeting about concerns from the council regarding social media and the mental health of students.
The council is appointed by the school board and includes mostly parents and several district employees.
The school district has a cell phone policy that requires phones be put up during the day but the council said new guidelines would be beneficial.
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The council recommended several actions the board could take regarding cell phones including students in kindergarten through eighth grade being only allowed to use phones before and after school and cell phones being kept on silent and in backpacks during school hours.
For high school students, Speer said cell phones should also be restricted to before and after school but allow for a total of 20 minutes of usage during the day for students to take care of personal matters.
Additionally, the council recommended teachers and coaches who oversee extracurricular activities should develop other methods of communication including using Chromebooks instead of cell phones.
In May, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a call for action by policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families and young people to gain a better understanding of the full impact of social media use, maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of social media platforms and create safer, healthier online environments to protect children.
According to information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a 2021 study asked students what impact social media has on their body image. The results showed 46 percent of adolescents age 13-17 said social media makes them feel worse, 40 percent said it makes them feel neither better nor worse, and only 14 percent said it makes them feel better. Additionally, 64 percent of adolescents are exposed to hate-based content through social media.
“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids.’ The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” Murthy stated in a release. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment.”
While the board was supportive of policy changes, several trustees asked how difficult it would be for teachers to enforce new policies.
“It would be a huge challenge but sometimes a huge challenge is worth it,” Superintendent Curtis Null said.
Null said to create a new policy would need to involve principals and other campus staff. He said it would need to involve parents since many times, students are texting parents during school.
“If we don’t bring the parents with us, then we will be working against parents,” Null said. “We need them to be on board if we make any of these changes.”
Null said it is also important to educate students on social media and how to manage it through life.
The board will revisit policy changes at a future meeting.
“We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis,” Murthy said. “I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis —one that we must urgently address.”
